STAR Researchers Find BPA exposure may raise risk for Asthma

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STAR grantees at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health have reported that exposures to biphenol A (BPA) by pregnant women and young children may cause an increased risk of asthma in children. The researchers reported their findings in the March issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Their conclusions were based on urine tests from 568 women (and their children) enrolled n the Mothers and Newborns study and lung function tests and medical history about the children at ages 3, 5 and 7.

They found that higher early childhood BPA urine levels caused increased levels of exhaled nitric oxide, a biomarker of airway inflammation. Similarly, they found that higher urinary BPA levels at ages 3, 5, and 7 years were associated with asthma occurring at ages 5 to 12 years. Also, BPA urine levels at age 3 years were associated with wheeze at ages 5 and 6 years, and BPA urine levels at age 7 years were associated with wheeze at age 7 years.

The researchers found that prenatal urinary BPA levels were associated inversely with occurrence of wheeze at age 5 years. A possible explanation of this might be that higher levels of BPA could stay in the placenta rather than being excreted by the mother as seen in previous research using rodent models.

This study adds evidence to previous research on BPA that environmental exposure to BPA might be associated with adverse respiratory effects. In July, the FDA banned BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups.